The meaning of my life
by Ocean of Dawn
Summary: After Soujiro was defeated by Kenshin, he set out on a journey to search for the meaning of his lfe and ended working in a restaurant owned by four beautful sisters and there he will meet Aoshi. Yaoi: Aoshi X Soujiro


The meaning of my life  
  
"Thank you, young man," said a young mother, as she bowed gratefully at Soujiro who had a cat in his arms.  
  
"You are welcome." Soujiro replied modestly as he knelt down and gave the cat to a little girl about six years old who was crying while tugging onto her mother's kimono. "Here's your cat."  
  
"Thank you, thank you. Haru, bad kitty, I told you not to climb the tree!," cried the girl as she cradled the cat tightly in front of her chest while nuzzling her face against the cat's soft fur.  
  
"If it wasn't for you, I don't know what I should do. I told you so, Nana; you have to take good care of your cat. Thank you, thank you," The young mother babbled her lecture to her daughter and her thanks to Soujiro at one time. "You are such a nice young man."  
  
Soujiro smiled but inside, it was dripping blood. After he left Shishio, he journeyed across the country, met a lot of people and he helped them like what his role model - Himura Kenshin did. However, words like 'you are such a kind person' hurt him like it was mocking him on his reluctant but bloody past.  
  
"I have to repay you somehow, so would you care to stay for dinner? My home is not far from here. My husband would be so happy to have guests, he's such a crowd-person," The woman started a one-sided chat not even waiting for Soujiro to respond.  
  
"I don't think so, I have to hurry into town before it's dark," declined Soujiro politely. Actually, he was too exhausted to continue his journey and meant to camp out and continue in the morning after he revitalized. The reason why he refused was because being in a home, reminds him of his agonizing past and the faces of his family whom he killed.  
  
"Too bad." The woman said regretfully. Suddenly her face brightened. "Never mind, you can have this jar of honey. An expression of my gratitude!" She shoved a jar of honey into Soujiro's arms.  
  
"I really don't need this. But if you would like to thank me, could you do me a favour?"  
  
"Anything I can," She assured him.  
  
"Could you tell me what is the meaning of your life?"  
  
The woman pressed her lips together and apparently was thinking hard. "I'm a simple woman, and, so, it must be, to be able to cook delicious meals for my family, and to see my children grow into fine people, no, no need to be too fine, I'd be happy enough if they could grow up healthily, right and oh, to stop my husband from smoking so much."  
  
"Thank you." Soujiro made a mental note to himself that family was one of the possible meanings of life.  
  
"Mummy, what can we go home, I feel so hungry," complained the little girl.  
  
"Okay, okay, Goodbye, young man. It was a good thing to see you today. Take care. And if you are heading into town, go through that forest. It's a lot faster that way." The woman bowed at Soujiro again before she took her daughter's hand and they walked away together.  
  
"Bye, bye kind mister!" The little girl waved at Soujiro as she walked away.  
  
"Bye bye. " Soujiro waved back at her. Another thing he realised was, when you did a good thing, there's a high probability that you would get rewarded. He looked at the jar of honey he was holding and smiled sincerely. He turned to the direction of the forest instead of the main road as the woman suggested and it was really a shortcut, he reached town within three hours instead of the usual five hours.  
  
He took a walk around town and found that the town had already been fully rebuilt, not leaving behind a trace of the Juppon Katana's massacre.  
  
Finally, he felt that he was really too exhausted to even lift a finger, he proceeded in finding an inn to stay for a night.  
  
Soujiro was really unlucky today:  
  
"Sorry, mister, you are a step late."  
  
"All our rooms are booked."  
  
"Too bad."  
  
At last he was in front of the door of the last inn in town.  
  
"Excuse me, could I have a room please?" Soujiro asked a man at the counter.  
  
"So sorry, we have no room left." The man said apologetically.  
  
Soujiro sighed; he began to think that this was a retribution for committing so many sins throughout his life.  
  
"You don't have a place to stay?"  
  
Soujiro turned around and saw a beautiful woman with long brown hair in a blue kimono. He nodded slowly; his killer instincts warned him to be careful of strangers. This was a habit from his 'past' that he would prefer not to forget.  
  
"I could offer you a place but in return." That woman trailed the last word with a smile.  
  
~First Day~  
  
"Hey girls, we have a guest!" Soujiro was lead into a shop that looked like restaurant.  
  
"Really, what a cute boy he is," shrieked a red-haired girl in a waitress uniform as she walked towards Soujiro and the brown-haired woman next to them.  
  
"I'll introduce later, hey, a customer is calling, hurry up and serve her, don't let them wait!"  
  
"Yes! Yes!"  
  
"Okay, boy, follow me." The brown-haired woman made a sign for Soujiro to follow. They went behind a counter after the woman nodded at another a raven-haired woman. Then, they went into the door behind the counter which had a set of stairs that led them upstairs.  
  
"My name is Minari Yukino. The red hair one is Sakuno, while the one at the counter is Himeno. A blonde is in the kitchen, she's Ayano. We are sisters and this is our restaurant. We are new here, are you a traveller or came especially for the festival?"  
  
"Festival?"  
  
"If you are not here for the festival, you really did come at the wrong time. All the inns are fully booked since a week ago and they are staying until the festival is over."  
  
"So, when is the festival?"  
  
"A week from today. Are you planning for a long stay?"  
  
"I don't know."  
  
"Don't worry, I'll always have a place here for you, but you have to work. Because of the festival we had lots of customers and there's always a short of hands."  
  
Soujiro hesitated as he silently observed the kind and beautiful face of Yukino, trying to decide whether to stay or not. The numbness of his feet told him he was in a desperate position to rest. "Thank you for your kind offer. I'll repay you as good as possible with my humble efforts."  
  
Soujiro agreed to stay not only because he really needed rest but he decided that working in a restaurant would give him an opportunity to observe the people easier, so he could finally realize the meaning of his life and what is the truth he should believe.  
  
"Your name is?"  
  
"Soujiro."  
  
Authoress words: *Squeek* I did a runouni kenshin fic, I can't believe this could happen, please tell me what do you think! In the next chapter, Soujiro will meet Aoshi and Misao's reveal to the public that he an ex- juppon katana, what chaos will ensues!  
  
What is the festival about!! 


End file.
